MR CONLON served 14 years of a life sentence for the blast in the Surrey town before being released from prison in 1989.

GERRY CONLON, who was wrongly convicted of the 1974 IRA Guildford pub bombing, has died aged 60, his family have announced.

Mr Conlon and the rest of the Guildford Four served 14 years of a life sentence for the attack which killed five people and injured 65, before their convictions were overturned in 1989.

He was later played by Daniel Day-Lewis in the film In The Name Of The Father.

Mr Conlon's family issued a statement through his lawyer Gareth Peirce.

It said: "This morning we lost our Gerry.

"He brought life, love, intelligence, wit and strength to our family through its darkest hours.

"He helped us to survive what we were not meant to survive.

"We recognise that what he achieved by fighting for justice for us had a far, far greater importance - it forced the world's closed eyes to be opened to injustice; it forced unimaginable wickedness to be acknowledged; we believe it changed the course of history.

"We thank him for his life and we thank all his many friends for their love."

Mr Conlon died in his home in the Falls Road area of Belfast after a lengthy illness.

Alex Attwood, SDLP Stormont Assembly member for the area, paid tribute to him.

"He'd given an awful lot but yet had so much more to give," Mr Attwood said.

"What he learned from his time in prison and campaign for release was the importance of not only raging against his own injustice but fighting for those who had also suffered miscarriages of justice."

Mr Attwood added: "He's now with his dad and his mum."

Mr Conlon's father Giuseppe, who was jailed as part of a discredited investigation into a supposed bomb making family - the Maguire Seven, died after five years in jail.

His mother Sarah, a tireless campaigner for their freedom, died in 2008, aged 82.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams expressed his shock and deep sadness at the news.

"Gerry and his father Giuseppe were two of the most infamous examples of miscarriages of justice by the British political and judicial system," Mr Adams said.

"Their story was told graphically in the film In The Name Of The Father.